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Super Christians??

“Our weekly article in the Northport Gazette and the West Alabama Gazette”.

Watering the Tulips
09/28/2011“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find”

Romans 7:18

One of the greatest examples in Scripture of an unlikely man who was used by God, was the Apostle Paul. Paul, who prior to his conversion on the road to Damascus, was known as Saul, would have been voted the “least likely to be converted” by the early Churches (had there been such a vote.) I don’t find any evidence anywhere that Christians in that day were trying to convert him at all. In fact, when he was converted many of the early Christians wanted nothing to do with him, because it seemed very unlikely that this change in his life was genuine. We know that Paul was used by God to pen the majority of the New Testament Epistles. He organized Churches, carried out missionary journeys, was beaten and abused for the cause of Christ. Surely if there ever turned out to be a “Super Christian” it was the Apostle Paul. However, that is not the way that Paul seemed to view himself. In Romans 7:14-25, Paul paints a picture of himself and his own battle with sin. In this passage he states that it seems what he wants to do, he doesn’t and what he doesn’t want to do, that he does. He reveals his own battle with such honesty that it almost seems like a mirror to us when we look in it. He sums it all up by saying, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Some have stated that Paul was describing himself before his conversion, but he doesn’t say, “Oh wretched man that I was...” . He refers to this struggle in the present tense as though the battle continues. This hardly seems like the language of a man who considered himself a “super Christian.” There seem to be many people today that feel they have attained, “Super” status. The Bible talks about the changes that take place in our lives as believers and the ongoing work of sanctification. It seems to me that the more this process goes on in my life, the greater my awareness of my own sin. All through Scripture when someone had a close encounter with God, they didn’t leave it feeling better about themselves, but more aware of their own failures. Moses at the burning bush was faced with his sin. Isaiah responded to his vision of the Lord by saying, “Woe is me.” One evidence that we are being drawn closer to the Lord is an increased awareness of sin in our lives. We know it’s there because we are confronted with it every time we consider how Holy and Righteous God is. So, for those who claim to have attained “sinless perfection” or think that the have finally “arrived,” maybe they aren’t aware of their sinfulness because they haven’t had a realization of who God is. After all there aren’t any “Super Christians,” but simply at best, we are sinners saved by grace.

Watering the Tulips is brought to you by Sovereign Grace Baptist Church in Northport, AL. For more information, please visit www.sovereigngrace.net. “Your app to the Gospel” is available for download in the iTunes app store and the Android market. Download it today.